Local history

Derek Amoroso
English 10
Mr. Middleswart

Have you ever been to Bears one stop and wondered how it got started? I will tell you what it was like before it was Bears, how it got started, what it is like now, and about the history of convenience stores in general. This paper will focus on the history of Bears one stop.
Before it was called Bears the store was called Floods general store. Floods was located in the same building that Bears is now. Floods was a general store that sold your basic everyday needs, such as Bread, milk, drinks, food, and some other household products. Floods was an old run down store that hadn't had many updates to it. The inside started to get dirty and it wasn't kept the way it should have been. A man named Del Flood. Him, his son, and his wife built and owned the store in 1977. (The daily Me) "Floods was sold in 1990 and reopened as Bears one stop in 1991." (Jeff) The reason the store was sold is that the owner decided he wanted to retire and didn't want to go through the hassle of owning a store anymore. (Jeff)
In 1991 Jeff Amoroso reopened the store and renamed it Bears One stop. Shortly after that renovations were made to the inside of the store. "The floors were redone, new coolers were put in, all the walls were repainted and fixed up, and new shelves were put in. On the outside new siding, and roofing was put on so that in the winter when it snowed the snow wouldn't stay on the roof and cause problems. New gas tanks were also put in under the ground because the other ones were too old." (Jeff) Bears one stop started out as a small family owned business. It is located on the Moosehead trail in Newport Maine. "When it first opened there were around 12 employees working there. Right now there are 6 employees that have been working there ever since it opened." (Jeff) It is named Bears because of a nickname my dad had in High school.
Bears is a convenience store It is located on the Moosehead trail in Newport as I said earlier. Right now it is basically the same as after it reopened although miner changes are made now and then. "It has grown so now about 25-30 employees work there." (Jeff) Sold at Bears are Meat, Groceries, Gas, alcohol, house products, and some hardware items. The store is known for its meat. There is a meat counter and a meet room where you can buy fresh custom cut meat. There are meat cutters that work in the meat room all day to serve and custom cut meat for customers when they come in. There is also a fresh bakery where bread, deserts, breakfast, and lunch items are made. "The snack/impulse items have the highest percent of profit although the most amount of money is made on meat." (Jeff) "The hardest part about owning it is dealing with employees and customers when things aren't going right. It is also the best part." (Jeff) "Right up there with the hardest is trying to compete with the big chain store such as Wal Mart, Shop and save, and even other businesses in town. If it weren't for the customers we wouldn't be in business" (Jeff)
Bears just didn't magically turn into a convenience store. The birth of the convenience store was in May of 1927 by the Southland Ice Company. (www. Nacsonline.com/nr/exeres) Convenience stores were created from a lot of different retail establishments. They realized that customers needed to buy things after local groceries stores were closed. They became popular in areas that were too small to have a supermarket. They are also good if you are in a hurry and don’t have time to go to a supermarket. It is basically one stop shopping without waiting in line and that is what made them popular. It is often hard for convenience stores to compete with the big chain supermarkets because they don’t have all the items in as big amounts. Big supermarkets can also often sell items cheaper because of how much money they make and they can buy items cheaper most times. Convenience stores usually sell gasoline and that gives them an advantage over the big supermarkets because they usually don’t.
There is a lot of history about Bears one stop, and I told a lot of it in this paper. In this report I told you about the history of Bears one stop and how it started, what it was like before it was Bears, about the store and what it sells, and the history of convenience stores in general. Now you know the history of bears and convenience stores.